Silent Hill Movie Filming Begins

GamesIndustry.biz has word that principal photography has begun on a film adaptation of the Silent Hill game series. From the article: "The film will star Radha Mitchell - best known for her role in Pitch Black - as lead character Rose, a woman who finds herself exploring the mysterious town whilst searching for her missing daughter. Sean Bean will play Rose's husband, and other cast members include Deborah Kara Unger (Crash, The Game) and Kim Coates (Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbour)."

Comments

Well

[Sv-Manowar]

I didn't really get into Resident Evil 1 and 2 the movies, so I hope silent hill will be an improvement, more focused on horror than gore.

Something that sounds a lot more promising on that page is "Hadida previously co-produced two film versions of Resident Evil and is currently working on a sequel, along with a big screen adaptation of the Onimusha franchise"

Onimusha has the potential to be an awesome film if done right. I look forward to seeing it along with Silent Hill. Hopefully, great games can become great flicks

Re:Well

[Anonymous Coward]

It might be an okay movie, who knows? ... but isn't best known for her role in Pitch Black pretty much the same thing as saying a complete unknown?

I think only six people saw that movie, and four of them walked out of the theater early, because it sucked.

Re:Well

[Anonymous Coward]

If it Onimusha movie become a hit (which I doubt), it would be because of a previously shoot series. After all, this formula worked for Pokemon. However, given it is done by the typical Hollywuss studios with myopic vision and planning, you can guarantee it will use the cheapest actors and writers who have no clue about the franchise, and it
is going to be doomed from the start.

Silent Hill 2

[subl33t]

Hopefully the movie will give me an idea of WTF Silent Hill 2 was about...

(was James dead? in hell? alternate reality? Were Eddie, Laura, etc there with him or just figments, etc, etc)

Re:Silent Hill 2

[cluke]

Well, considering how the game had a couple of different and entirely mutually incompatible endings, I don't even think the devs knew for sure.

Re:Silent Hill 2

[skadus]

Several plot Analyses exist for 2.

Of interest is the one by PresidentEvil, who was apparently the guy who wrote the Official Strategy Guide for 1, the leftover materials making up the bulk of his online Plot Guide for 1 (with actual emails and discussions with the developers).

With 2's Plot Guide, there was less input from Konami, so it's almost all him.

And like someone else said, in some cases even the developers aren't sure about some aspects of the story.

My personal theory is the town is like a Purgatory/Hell on Earth, and there's no clear definition between reality and Hell/fantasy. Silent Hill is where you go when your subconcious feels overwhelmingly guilty about something bad you've done... and you either have the Truth shoved in your face when you're in deep denial, or you just sort of lie in despair. Either way you languish in your own personal Hell. :)

Re:Silent Hill 2

[zr-rifle]

From the plot it seems that the movie will have no realtionship with the events seen in Silent Hill 2.

By the way, that game was all about the mental illness suffered by it's protagonist, James, after spending 4 years torturing himself for having killed his terminally ill wife. His actions, or rather your own, ultimately decide if he comes to terms with what he has done or if he kills himself because of the remorse. James is more or less like a perverted Homerus, as he ventures to and from Silent Hill in search if his wife.

The game is deep, touching, evocative, shocking and completely different from any videogame out there. It also has one of the most frightening and disturbing soundscapes ever heard, thanks to Akira Yamaoka's talent. It is one of the very games I'd call a work of art. Unfortunately, the sequels simply don't match up to it's provocative genious.

Re:Silent Hill 2

[AzraelKans]

If you want to know Silent hill is a bit "artistic" and obscure so you need to give a representation to it, here is a version Ive read around and liked the most. (of course beware of the spoilers!)

At some point James died, then he got called to Silent Hill (HELL) to meet his wife, he had forgotten what happened to her, he descents layer by layer into the pits of demons and tortured souls like Eddie and Laura (aparently you are tortured by representations of your sins, guilt and fears who become your personal demons) there he meets his personal demons: Maria (a young and "spicy" version of his wife) and the pyramid head (a representation of guilt and punishment).

At the end he remembers what happened: _he killed his wife_ because she was suffering too much due to a disease, depending on how well you did you either forgive yourself (good endind) or you are bound to an eternity of suffering and guilt (bad ending) Or you find out that a silly talking dog is who orchestrated all (joke ending!)

Btw. Silent Hill is hell because thats what happens in Silent hill 1 a satanic cult opens "the nightmare world" to let a demon (Samael) take posession of a kindred (created by black magic) human girl (Samara) so hell is "mixed" with our world in Silent Hill and acts as a shifting portal between both.

No Boll :(

[Ph00p]

No Uwe Bol working on it :( the movie is bound to fail! He's the best video game movie maker! Hell he's a directing god in gerneral! I guess he's working too hard on Far Cry! I bet this one will suck. Hopefully it'll be a masterpiece like Mario Brothers the movie.

No mention of Uwe Boll anywhere...

[darkmayo]

That means its off to a great start :P

Re:No mention of Uwe Boll anywhere...

[j2asghar]

dont forget if its anything like the "adapation" of the Resident Evil fanchise we might be lucky enough to get just scenery with no real tie to the game.

"Sean Bean will play Rose's husband"

[tratch]

Oh Sean, say it isn't so.

Re:"Sean Bean will play Rose's husband"

[eamonman]

That'd sure piss Sam off.

gg

[aleatory_story]

Is making these video game movies actually profitable? They've been becoming more frequent, but they're rarely of any quality. I suppose a generic horror film named after a video game is going to sell better than one that's not. Call me cynical, but I really don't see them coming close to recreating the game experience. The immersion and interactivity combined is what makes it so great. So what's the point, if any, other than the old $?

Re:gg

[Rs_Conqueror]

Thats the problem, the film producers feel the same way. Which is why they don't even TRY to make it good (or so it seems), they seem to just want to get it over with so they can get their monthly check and move on to the next franchise. If they would even TRY and make them even remotely resemble the games they are based on, things might be different.

Re:gg

[aleatory_story]

When you convert between two mediums, there's always something that's lost--something extra the medium adds to the flavor that we just can't put our fingers on. It's the same way when books get turned into movies: it's just not the same. Movies turned into video games rarely recreate the experience either.

Are people just never satisfied, or is there something inherently bad about the design tactic of imitating a story from another medium? What people really want to see recreated is the story, but what they don't realize is how much the medium affects their interpretation of it. The Final Fantasy movie, Spirits Within, was a huge disappointment to fans of the series. Was it a bad story? Compared to most movies (especially action) it had a lot of depth. Fans were going in expecting to watch a Final Fantasy game take place in front of their eyes; but you don't have the sense of adventure being at your command--the ability to explore and grow on your own.

It's the same with a horror game being transformed into a horror movie. I'm rarely ever frightened by movies, but video games have freaked me out quite a lot. The interactivity reinforces the immersive design, and it makes you feel like you're in danger. No matter how hard the producer tries, they can't recreate the experience, because it's not possible. So, like you said, they should TRY to make it good, but it can't try to do it in the same heart as the game. Maybe that's why video game movies have been so bad: not because producers/directors aren't being true enough, but because they're trying too hard to be.

Re:gg

[aleatory_story]

Oh, and I somehow became braindead a moment ago because the plural of medium is obviously media.

No Uwe?

[RogueyWon]

I could have sworn I read a while ago that Uwe "take your favorite franchise, kill it and rape its corpse" Bol had acquired the rights to make the Silent Hill movie.

The general track record on movie-conversions of games is pretty terrible, but if any franchise should translate well, it's Silent Hill. Of course, this relies on having a director bright enough to know that big fire-fights and heros with super-powers are NOT scary. The absence of Uwe allows at least a faint glimmer of hope.

Oh boy!

[sc0ttyb]

Sounds like Silent Hill 1, except instead of Harry Mason looking for his daughter it's this chick named Rose.

What the hell? What's so hard about taking the game's plot and characters and adapting them to film? Do you HAVE to change every single damn thing so that those who love the series can't relate to the movie at all?

Would someone please -- PLEASE -- make a movie based on a videogame franchise that doesn't alter the mythos at all? Please? I'll pay money to go see it! Pinky swear!

Re:Oh boy!

[Bob The Fish]

To me the plot sounds no more like Silent Hill 1 than it does 2. The fact Rose is searching for her daughter isn't that big of a correlation w/ the first game. Almost all protagonists in Silent Hill stories are looking for something or someone.

Personally, I'd much rather watch an original SH work than an adaptation of one I've already experienced several times. The Silent Hill comics are a good example of quality stories by writers not from Konami...

Re:Oh boy!

[TiggsPanther]

Almost all protagonists in Silent Hill stories are looking for something or someone.

Not played the games yet, but have read a fair bit about them. And, yeah, "Silent Hill" does seem more of a concept than an absolute story.

If anything SH sounds like one of the few game franchises where you could come up with an original story and still be extremely faithful to the spirit of the original material. I'm sure the people in the games (and comics) are far from the only people who've got mixed up in Silent Hill - unlike some games where the primary characters were the only people involved. So why not make a film that uses the setting and the concept and follows the adventure of another protagonist who got mixed up in events.

The Score

[oldManSquad]

Anyone know who's doing the score for this?

Akira Yamaoka's soundtrack is a key aspect of the Silent Hill experience and if they just fill it with goth metal/80's pop covers, i will weep.

Sean Bean

[Anonymous Coward]

Good casting on this one. Sean is an underated and skilled actor.

Saw the downtown set on the weekend

[calculi]

I drove downtown Brantford (Ontario, Canada) on Sunday and saw the set for this movie. Looked pretty cool, and it's the most activity downtown Brantford has seen in years. Glad they changed the name from Centralia to Silent Hill too.

Comics?

[oGMo]

COMICS you say? Where can one acquire said artifacts? ;-)

Re:Comics?

[Bob The Fish]

IDW publishes the Silent Hill comics (and Castlevania comics too). It seems you can buy them off their website. There is a chance your local comic book store has 'em too. :)
http://store.idwpublishing.com/index.php?cPath=2_2 7_40

pff...

[IntergalacticWalrus]

I bet they'll screw it up, and it'll end up being on Mars instead of Earth, and they'll be fighting hellspawn instead of zombies.

Fucking Hollywood...

If the producer had anything to do with Resi..

[Anonymous Coward]

..then this film will completely suck. The two resi films were abominations and had almost no relevance at all to the games.

I wouldn't mind, but then these films give the *games* a bad name.